Bread is the self-titled debut album by soft rock band Bread, released in 1969.
Bread peaked at #127 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The re-recorded track “It Don’t Matter to Me” was issued as a single after the release of Bread’s second album, On the Waters, and the #1 success of “Make It with You” in the summer of 1970. “It Don’t Matter to Me” peaked at #2 and #10 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary and Pop Singles charts, respectively.
The album’s cover, with whimsical depictions of the band members photos on paper currency, refers to contemporary slang equating “bread” to money. (by wikipedia)
Hi, kids! Here’s another great group, made just as you like ’em! Straight from LA, group capital of the world!! You’re gonna love ’em! You’ve got to if you like the Beatles, Byrds, Bee Gees, Buffalo Springfield, Johnny Rivers, Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, or male clotheshorses with giant collars.
Make no mistake, kids, this album is no synthetic bullshit. The three boys in the group wrote all their own songs, and we’re proud of them. They also played all their own instruments, everything from guitars to recorders to Moogs, and their lyrics have the simple eloquence of all folk poetry: “I looked into my morning mirror/And it revealed some things to me that I had not been able to see/I saw someone that I’m not sure I want to be/An empty, lonely face was staring back at me …”
Isn’t that touching? Ah, but you should hear the music that goes with it—the epitome of Taste. “A highly refined amalgam of the sweetest, most successful elements in both rock and country and western”. Oh, by the way, all you “over-thirties” will love this album too. It never descends to the grating noise and unspeakable vulgarities so many groups find necessary to get attention today. These boys are real professionals. Guaranteed never to hit a bad note. Of course, there will be some cynical critics who’ll say that Bread’s music is bland, one-dimensional, repetitious and even bubble-gummy. But we need not listen to these malcontents—they’d probably rather just watch some maniac smash his guitar to bits on his amplifier or something anyway. Why expect people with no respect for high musical standards to like this album? And let me say that the standards are the very highest: those of “Family Doctor,” for example, were set by the Band, while “Don’t Shut Me Out” should please all you Buffalo Springfield fans, and “London Bridge” could easily have been written by the Bee Gees and arranged by Van Dyke Parks. All of the boys sing: just imagine a combination of the Everly Brothers, Marty Balin and Johnny Rivers singing harmony together. Wheh!
Bread’s songs are mostly about love (just good old rock and roll), but they have not shut their eyes to all the misery and injustice in the world today. Dig, for instance, this stark evocation of alienation: “I drug myself outside to face the people that I knew would be there/And though they walked along pretending not to care/I knew behind my back they’d point and laugh and stare …’
Buy this album today. You’re sure to get your money’s worth: twelve highly polished numbers, just like a year’s supply of hit singles! Catchy, bright, snappy, wholesome. A new incarnation of images you’ll love forever. It might be best to let the boys themselves have the last word: “I’m driftin’ down the street/Askin’ of all I meet/Don’t you know me from somewhere / Hazel eyes and curly hair …?” (Rolling Stone 1060, No. 41. Lester Bangs)
Personnel:
David Gates (bass, guitar, percussion, piano, violin, keyboards, viola, vocals, synthesizer)
James Griffin (vocals, guitar, percussion, keyboards)
Robb Royer (guitar, percussion, piano, piano, recorder, flute, bass, background vocals)
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Ron Edgar (drums)
Jim Gordon (drums)
Tracklist:
01. Dismal Day (Gates) 2.22
02. London Bridge (Gates) 2.32
03. Could I (Griffin/Royer) 3.32
04. Look At Me (Gates) 2.44
05. The Last Time (Griffin/Royer) 4.11
06. Any Way You Want Me (Griffin/Royer) 3.16
07. Move Over (Griffin) 2.37
08. Don’t Shut Me Out (Gates) 2.40
09. You Can’t Measure the Cost (Gates) 3.23
10. Family Doctor (Griffin/Royer) 2.15
11. It Don’t Matter To Me (Gates) 2.43
12. Friends And Lovers (Griffin/Royer) 3.55
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